Joseph Polossifakis returns to the school that lit his Olympic fire
Former teachers remember athlete before he heads to Rio to represent Canada
Get to know Quebec's athletes heading to the Olympic Games in Rio this summer. Here's the second in our series of profiles on our local athletes as they get ready to compete.
Joseph Polossifakis's athletic success started early at Socrates elementary school.
He was the champion athlete in his class every year and won an award for the strongest student in physical education when he graduated.
The 25-year-old Montrealer has since racked up medals in the Pan American Games and will compete for Canada in fencing at the Olympic Games in Rio this August.
Polossifakis is fondly remembered by his former gym teacher, Chris Adamopoulos.
"From a very young age, Joseph had this sparkle in his eyes when he was coming down into the gym," says Adamopoulos, who is now the school's director general. "We're extremely, extremely proud of him."
He began fencing when he was 12-years-old and dreamed of representing Canada at the Olympics after seeing a member of his fencing club compete in Athens in 2004.
Polossifakis is the first graduate of Montreal's Greek school to qualify for the Olympics.
- Fencing Olympic hopefuls tackle myths, strategy behind ancient sport
- Canadian fencers give positive reviews on Olympic venue
He almost missed the chance, recovering from a concussion just in time for the Olympic qualification process in April 2015.
Polossifakis has also had to battle through back, ankle and knee injuries over the last two years. But he looks as if he's in fine form heading into Rio, winning a pair of silver medals at the Pan Am games in Toronto last summer.